World news in brief, 11/9

LONDON — Rickets, the childhood disease that once caused an epidemic of bowed legs and curved spines during the Victorian era, is making a shocking comeback in 21st-century Britain.

Rickets results from a severe deficiency of vitamin D, which helps the body absorb calcium. Rickets was historically considered to be a disease of poverty among children who toiled in factories during the Industrial Revolution, and some experts have hypothesized it afflicted literary characters like Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

Last month Britain's chief medical officer, Dr. Sally Davies, described the return of rickets as "appalling." She proposed the country give free vitamins to all children under 5 and asked the country's independent health watchdog to study if that would be worthwhile.

Most people get vitamin D from the sun, oily fish, eggs or dairy products. Rickets largely disappeared from Britain in the 1950s, when the country embarked on mass programs to give children cod liver oil. But in the last 15 years the number of reported cases of rickets in hospitalized children has increased fourfold — from 183 cases in 1995 to 762 cases in 2011. Experts said the actual number is probably even higher since there's no official surveillance system and it's unknown whether the disease has peaked.

Spain

U.S. ambassador: NSA acts legally

MADRID — Spain says the U.S. ambassador has given his assurances that the U.S. National Security Agency's activities in the country are carried out in conjunction with Spain's intelligence agency and in accordance with Spanish law.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said U.S. Ambassador James Costos told Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo on Friday that NSA spying in Spain is always done for security reasons like combating terrorism. It said Costos said the spying was never for economic reasons.

It was not clear if Costos was referring to NSA activities now or in the past. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Friday's meeting but had no further comment.

Costos was summoned after reports that the NSA had spied on politicians in Spain and other countries and on the communications of ordinary European citizens.

Pakistan

Pakistan has new ambassador to U.S.

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday that Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani has been appointed as the new ambassador to Washington.

Jilani is a career diplomat who joined the foreign service in 1979. He succeeds Sherry Rehman who stepped down when the previous government was ousted following the May elections.

The ministry said Jilani will take up his new position in December.

He has previously served as Pakistan's ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union.